The Little Mermaid (AU)
by Alliando
Summary: When Nezumi swears to take down the ship that killed the merpeople, he meets a young prince named Shion. Of course the plan was to destroy humans, not fall in love with one, right?
1. Chapter 1

_Shion, for what reason? Why did I save you? _

Nezumi remembered when he had ventured to the surface for revenge. He was all alone; his entire culture of merpeople had been ruthlessly wiped out by the oil spill. They had all been swallowed up by the inky black darkness, leaving Nezumi to fend for himself.

The lights from the grand cruise ship reflected on the water, he had planned to sink it. Destroy them all, like they did. It was only fair, after all.  
But one factor changed everything, and his resolve had wavered.

'Nezumi?'

Shion tilted his head in confusion. He reached his hand out to lightly brush the surface of the water- but the raven quickly flinched back.

'Don't go near me.'

'But-'

'Be careful, you don't want your exquisite clothing to be ruined.' Nezumi smirked a little, his long hair shimmering from the droplets of water.  
Shion pouted a little, his hazel eyes still sparkling as he leant over the railing.

'Please let me at least check your wound, you still might be bleeding.'

'Us people of the sea aren't as weak as you beings.'

That was a lie, of course. The incident that happened a few days ago proved that. Although his people had a lifespan of 300 years and rarely attacked by opposing forces, humans had a strange power. The power to kill, to maim, to destroy. But Shion had saved him. He had come close to death, but one of those whom he detested so much had shown kindness.

_Is that what you call souls? _

'Hey Shion, can I touch yours?'

Shion looked at him in confusion; it was rare for Nezumi to display any desire to go near him. 'Touch what?'

'Your soul.'

The brunette blushed, although Nezumi had no idea why. Do humans faces turn that red all the time?

He sighed; obviously a simple question couldn't get past this airhead's brain.

'Our people don't have souls. But you humans do, and they last for all eternity. I've always wanted to touch one. Is it really that hard to explain?' Shion stared blankly at Nezumi for a minute, before laughing nervously. 'Well I never expected to encounter a mermaid before so-'

'Merman.'

'Ah, well you look so girly so sometimes I forget-'

'_Excuse me?_'

'A-ah nothing…Well…um, the human soul isn't something you can touch. It doesn't have a physical form you see- only when we die they're taken by God.'

'God? Why does this guy steal them? Does he sell them?' Nezumi frowned, humans had such weird concepts. He never got to learn much about them, since not many went to the surface. The ones who did hardly ever come back, and soon it was taboo to see the land above.

'No! Well it's hard to explain.' Shion took his boots off and dipped a toe in the water, making ripples. 'Our bodies stay here, and- WAAAH?!'

Nezumi had grabbed him by the collar and Shion had fallen in the ocean, falling on top of him.

Shion coughed and spluttered, rubbing the salt water from his eyes. He looked up and was startled to meet a piercing grey. Amusement was reflected in them, and Shion turned red. 'What was that for?'

'If you were going to take a midnight swim, may as well go all the way I presume?'

Nezumi's amethyst tail flicked powerfully in the water, keeping them both afloat. Shion glared and gripped onto Nezumi's bare shoulders a little tighter.  
'Can't you swim?'

Shion blinked, and averted his gaze. '…I never really learnt how.'

'Ooh, so the pampered prince does have a flaw. Looks like money can't buy talent.'

'Well you live underwater, so you have to. I just wasn't given a chance to since I was always indoors.'

'Hn, I see. You scared?'

'No…I'm with you so…'

The sea at night was freezing, but Nezumi's warmth…it burned to his very core. Before Shion could think of a theory on why mer-people had such high temperatures he was overcome with sleepiness. He could feel his eyelids growing heavy, and Nezumi smiled a little at the slowing breaths against his neck.

'Getting tired?' His voice was gentle. 'Careful, you don't want to drown.'

He didn't answer, and Nezumi floated for a few minutes before deciding sleeping Shion was not as entertaining and started to head back to the ship.

Humans get tired when the night gets pitch black. A new discovery. Nezumi grinned; he had found yet another fatal point.

_Shion will be useful, in bringing down his kind._ _I'll find out everything about you humans, and destroy you all._

He'll bring down the ship, once he knows a little more about the sleeping man in his arms.

Shion woke up in his chambers, surprised. He was dry, but Nezumi had dragged him into the sea last night…

'Are you up already? Our servants have already prepared breakfast.' Safu appeared in the doorway, already fully dressed.

'Hm? Ah, coming!"

Safu left, and Shion hurriedly put on his vest and pulled his boots back on. He opened his closet, and took a deep intake of surprise. Yesterday's clothes were thrown in carelessly, and sopping wet.

_Nezumi…_

Shion ate breakfast at the long table with Karan, Safu and Yoming. Sailors were not permitted in this room, but he could hear the sounds of them working outside. Karan looked at him in concern; her son seemed a bit distant these past few days. He would disappear and not come back for hours, but the whole point of being here was to learn how to commandeer the ship.

Of course Shion had already gotten everything down to pat, and his charismatic leadership and kindness had won over the sailors. But Shion had still not gotten over his fear of water. Yet he would spend hours longingly staring at not the surface, but underneath the water.

Shion looked down at his meal, and compared the silverware to Nezumi's eyes.

'_Can I touch your soul?'_

Nezumi had said something so embarrassing without hesitation, just the thought of it made his ears turn mauve and his heart hammer. Of course he had meant it differently, but…

_If you're talking about that, you've already captured it. _

That was the truth.

After breakfast, Shion was summoned to the top deck. Yoming accompanied him, prattling about the forecast; but he was already far away in his thoughts.

'Shion!'

Yoming grabbed him by the shoulders. 'Are you listening? Don't space out when you talk to me.'

Shion blinked, and looked apologetic. 'Sorry Father. I was thinking about something.'  
Yoming paused, and then grinned. 'Ah I see. Is it love?'

He blushed and began to stammer. 'O-of course not!'

The elder smiled secretively, and looked up at the blue sky. 'I know that look anywhere. Don't worry, your wishes will be fulfilled.'

Yoming patted Shion's dark brown locks.

'It's Safu isn't it?'

'…Pardon?'

'That's whom you've been so hung up over the past few days right? Ah, my son is all grown up. Such a good choice too. Safu's beautiful, not to mention intelligent and rich. She's perfect.'

Shion looked at him in shock. 'Safu's just my friend.'

Yoming ignored him, caught up in his own excitement.

'That's why I decided, as your father, that she shall be your fiancée.'

**Hope you guys enjoyed that! I 've got quite a lot planned for this story, so I hope you will drop a review to tell me what you guys think! **

**-Alliandoalice **


	2. Chapter 2

Shion looked numbly at the floor. Some of the sailors working on the decks tried to cheer him up, but he plastered on a fake smile and dismissed it by claiming he needed to go to bed early.

He didn't want to trouble his family. They had loved and cared for him, surrounded him with riches and not to mention they were the rulers of the country. Shion never cared much for royalty and bloodlines, but he put up with it. But to decide whom he spent his entire life with?

The brunette put his face in his hands.

Suddenly a hauntingly beautiful melody echoed into his room.

_Singing? _

It wasn't in any language he knew; but so ethereal that all previous thoughts were instantly wiped from his mind.

There was a brief tap on his cabin window.

'Nezumi…?'

Shion ran frantically to the deck, heart hammering in his chest. The sailors and his men had all gone in for the day, most likely for supper, so the deck was quite empty.

Nezumi was sitting on a smooth rock, his back to him. The sunset filtered through his sea coloured hair, and the song that flowed was so mysteriously enchanting that it felt like time had stopped.

It held such sorrow, such sadness…

A lump formed in his throat.

_What happened, Nezumi? What happened to make you sing something so sad?_

Would you tell me if I asked?

These jumbled, incoherent thoughts and emotions bubbled up inside him until they spilled out in the form of tears.  
'Oh-' Shion hastily rubbed his eyes, embarrassed.

Nezumi stopped; his outline was clearly visible in front of the setting sun. His sharp grey eyes focused on him, lips curling into a subdued smile.

'Are you crying?'

Shion blinked and shook his head vehemently. But he could not conceal the obvious tear tracks that ran its jagged path down his face.

A quiet sigh.

'Hey, look at me.'

Nezumi pried Shion's hands away from his face, holding them.

Shion laughed awkwardly. 'S-sorry…'

Nezumi paused._ Inukashi was right, words were superficial. _He wondered if she had survived.

The merman looked at him for a long while before dropping the other man's hand; unaware of Shion's racing pulse.

There was a brief silence, and to Nezumi's increasing discomfort he noticed Shion had an odd expression on his face.

_What's he looking at? _

The longer he stared back at Shion, the faster his own heart seemed to thump in his chest. This was new, and it scared him. The way Shion was looking at him definitely bypassed any line that was formed between them.

_But this feeling…it's rather nice. _

The second that thought formed, he abruptly broke eye contact and looked away.

_Absurd. _

He suddenly realized that he hadn't been staying true to his objective at all. Nezumi had only turned to the surface for that one purpose of destroying them, but instead he was…what _was _he doing?

He had to take action.

'Nezumi…?' Shion spoke tentatively, jarring him out of his thoughts.

'…I'll see you later, Shion.'

He disappeared with a flick of his tail.

Nezumi had not come to visit him since the other night. Shion felt anxious, was he angry? He had been so mesmerized by him that time that he failed to notice he was staring for at least a minute before the other turned away.

He sighed miserably, leaning with his elbows crossed on the rail. The sky was dark and grey; it was funny how the weather seemed to match what he felt right now. The men aboard were hard at work, pulling ropes and adjusting the sails for the oncoming storm.

The harsh wind blew at his hair, and it soon became too cold and the waves too rough to possibly continue staying on deck.

'Where are you…Nezumi?'

Meanwhile, two shadowed figures waited patiently below the hull of the ship. Soon the storm will come, and Nezumi knew exactly now how to use Shion to his advantage.

'I hope this plan of yours works.' It was Inukashi. In the past few days, Nezumi had been hunting for the other mermaid, certain that she was alive. Tonight, they would work together to bring revenge upon the wretched humans.

The hurricane had gotten larger and more vicious, and waves pummelled the ship with such brutal force that the vessel shook from side to side. The water spilled onto the deck where Shion's men were furiously working to keep it upright. Shion was also there, yelling instructions, trying to get his voice heard over the sound of the rain.

'The bottom of the ship has been punctured!' It was a sailor, his face stricken.

'What?!'

'We don't know if we can fix it in time!'

'Calm down men! Send all the mechanics to the hull!'

'It's too late!'

'Prince Shion, we just got news, there's another one! The bottom decks are flooding fast!'

'Some outside forces are puncturing the windows!'

There were deafening screams as the mast collapsed, crushing the planks with a loud crash.

Shion pulled on the rope harder. This was a dire situation; at this rate they would have to evacuate. Suddenly he heard someone calling his name, and he recognized it immediately. He dropped it and pushed his way through the sailors before breaking into a run.

As he reached the most isolated area of the vessel, he heard the shouting grow louder. Fear grew inside him; something had happened-

It was Nezumi. And he was trapped between the mast and the rocks.

'Shion!' he shouted weakly against the waves. 'Help me!'

He didn't think twice.

Karan had been readying everyone into the lifeboats, until she saw a glimpse of her son running past her. The water had blurred her vision and strands of hair whipped in her face, but she swore she could see an odd creature in the sea, calling to him.

_Merfolk?_

'Shion! What are you doing!? Get in the lifeboat!'

But he ignored her and shouted something that sounded strangely like _Rat_, before jumping into the cold water.

'**SHION!' **

Nezumi had planned everything. With the help of Inukashi, they had taken advantage of the storm and punctured each of the ship's weak points. It was then up to him to lure Shion away from his men, so he would know for sure that the organization they had would fall apart.

He had pretended to be trapped, although he could easily escape his position due to his powerful tail. That would be good enough to lure him out.  
But there was one thing he had forgotten, and that was the fact that Shion couldn't swim.

'Nezumi!' Shion gasped, struggling to keep his head above water.

And now that idiot was drowning.

**Hey everyone, shit is finally going down! Prepare yourselves for sadness, and please leave a review on what you think about this story so far! ;) **

**-Alliando **


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